Spotlight Product Review: Phil & Teds Highpod

By Hollie Schultz | February 15, 2010

Since modern kitchens are all the rage right now, why not consider a modern high chair to match? Since you will be using a high chair 3 times a day and looking at it in your kitchen for 18-24 months each child, what high chair you pick is very important. You don’t have to have a high chair that is covered with ruffles, teddy bears, circus animals or the like. Remember the baby is sitting in it – not looking at it. Pick what is appealing to you to fit in with your kitchen. You wouldn’t pick a couch with a ruffles and fish on it, would you?

Now, if modern, aesthetically appealing and full of features is what you like – the Phil & Teds highpod might just be the high chair for you!

Since meal time means messy time in our houses, one of our #1 features for a high chair is how it cleans and how quickly. Since our babies wipe mac and cheese in their hair, smear green beans up their arms and squish banana everywhere, if the chair has seams, creases, cracks, or crevices, we assure you that the food will find its way there every time! And since they eat at least 3 times a day (that’s 1095 times a year), cleaning a hard-to-clean chair will get on your last nerve.

Phil & Teds must have been reading our diary! They must have known we don’t like a high chair with lots of places for food to hide! The highpod is super easy to clean! Love that! There is no more scrubbing, digging food out of the over-stuffed seat pad or trying to get food out of an unnecessary ruffle. The highpod has a seat that is a seamless injection-molded hard shell – meaning no cracks, crevices or seams for food to hide in. Then on top of that seamless seat is a seamless aerocore seat insert! The aerocore seat insert is an innovative, waterproof, anti-slip, durable and cushioning material that happens to be hypoallergenic and odor resistant as well. The seat insert is super easy to wipe clean and removable if you really need to give it a once over! Also, there is a padded, 5-point harness to keep your baby safely in place. The harness has a slide and lock harness adjustment to quickly adjust the height of the harness for your growing child.

The highpod comes with a small tray that can be easily removed with two hands. When your baby is small you can easily slide your baby in and out while leaving the tray attached. As you baby grows though, you will need to remove the tray to get them in and out. For additional safety, there is a t-bar connected to the tray. We would have liked to see the t-bar attached to the seat instead. First, the t-bar makes the tray a bit awkward to set down on a flat surface. Second, a t-bar on the seat helps with keeping those wiggling toddlers in place when we are doing the 5-point harness.

There is one dishwasher-safe, lift-off tray cover included for easy clean-up and serving. The insert lightly snaps down on the main tray but is very, very easy to get off. So easy, in fact, that our toddlers can do it! When you child figures out that he can remove the tray cover, they may begin a game you do not want to play. It’s the “throw the insert on the floor or at you during mealtime” game.

Now, we want to warn you that the tray is small. In the world of high chairs, maybe one of the smallest we have seen. Now, immediately you might think that is bad. But we have to disagree. We actually like the fact that the tray is small so that your baby learns to keep their mess contained similar to a plate. Bigger tray = bigger mess in our opinion. After having a small tray, when your toddler transitions to the family table, he will be used to having a small area to eat. Babies and toddlers don’t eat a ton of food, so to us the tray size is perfect! Plus, a small tray means a very manageable tray cover that fits in your dishwasher almost like the size of a dinner place. It’s fantastic! If you have the idea that “bigger is better”, not to worry! Phil & Ted offers a “Snack Attack” tray sold separately that is an extra large food tray that snaps onto the smaller tray.

Phil & Teds advertises the highpod as the “fiesta & siesta” chair because of its ability to recline. We love that the seat has three recline positions that allow our toddlers to eat on their tray and then recline with their bottle or to take a quick snooze all in one place. Plus, since the seat reclines, it can be used for babies from newborn to 3 years (or 31 lbs). By the way, the highpod is the only high chair that is safety certified in all 3 positions.

There are 5 height positions that are very easy to adjust with the simple push of two side buttons to slide the chair to the perfect position to bring your baby to the table with the family. We found that the highest position worked great for breakfast bars, counters and those taller bar height dining tables. Even though you can remove the tray and push your toddler up to the family table, the rather low weight limit of 31 lbs is going to have you moving him to a big boy dining chair around his 3rd birthday (or sooner if you have a larger child).

One thing that the highpod is missing is wheels on the bottom for easy mobility around the kitchen. But since the chair only weighs 22 lbs, so it isn’t a big deal to pick it up and move it.

The highpod comes with a couple other accessories that were designed with your child’s ergonomics in mind. First, the “high heels” is a removable footrest that gives your younger and smaller children somewhere to comfortable set their feet. The importance of the high heels footrest is that it helps the baby adjust his own weight while sitting in the chair, providing control and comfort. When your child gets taller, just remove the high heels for your child to use the lower footrest.

Second, a “lumbar jack” lumbar control insert is included to distribute your baby’s weight evenly to provide optimum support when used with the high heels footrest. The lumbar jack insert fits behind your baby’s lower back to keep them upright and push a smaller baby slightly forward, so their legs can naturally bend over the front edge of the highchair so they can reach the footrest. This insert is only going to work for your smaller babies. Our 6 month tester is 18 lbs and was already too big for the insert. We think the lumbar jack has a very short life with the chair but we are glad it is included for those parents with smaller babies. Note: The lumbar jack and the high heels are only included with the highpod for a limited time. After that, it will become accessories for an additional cost.

The Phil & Teds highpod is a fun, new high chair that is not only aesthetically appealing with its modern look but is very easy to clean! With its 3 position recline, height adjustment options, dishwasher safe tray cover, and easy to adjust 5 point harness, the highpod would be a great high chair for your kitchen.

To watch my full video review of the Phil & Teds highpod, click on the video review below:

About Hollie Schultz

Baby Gizmo founder Hollie Schultz is the proud mom of three adorable kids. This certified CPS (Child Passenger Safety) Tech and baby gear expert is the host of the Baby Gizmo video reviews giving moms the inside look at baby products before they purchase them. Hollie is also the co-author of The Baby Gizmo Buying Guide. A former resident of Los Angeles, she and her family now live in North Carolina where she is having a blast designing and decorating her new home.

Hi, I have just bought this high chair. Our baby boy is 6 months. He is quite a big baby and we get the impression that the p&t high pod seems a tad narrow. Will it realistically be suitable for the bigger baby or will they feel restricted?
Thanks